Stephanie Otis
9/27/13
EDC 102H -- Dr. Fogleman
High School Influence
I have never grown so much as a person than I did during my high school career. It is hard for me to define just a few influential teachers or extracurricular activities because I believe that they all helped shape me into the student and citizen that I am today. With that being said, there were definitely some outstanding individuals and opportunities that had the greatest impact on me. I owe my academic successes and my future path to Mrs. Carpenter, Mrs. Seymour, Ms. Vesely, and my track and gymnastics teams.
Mrs. Carpenter was not my most challenging teacher. In fact, her electives might have been the easiest courses I took in high school. However, she was an extremely influential adult in my life. Mrs. Carpenter was like a second mom to me, as she was to many other students, as well. Always with wide, welcoming, open arms, she was my shoulder to cry on (literally!). The life advice and lessons Mrs. Carpenter taught me will forever stay with me in my heart. She valued teaching, but she also very much valued guiding her students to be the best people and citizens they could be. This was important to her, and I am grateful for that. On top of her history classes, she taught two electives: Human Oppression and Global Relations. I took these classes my senior year and they were very heavy material, even for an 18 year old, to digest. I would often leave class feeling depressed after watching a documentary on genocide or reading a first hand account of the atrocities these innocent cultures faced. But they were very important topics. They were eye openers, heart tuggers, and tear jerkers. And I am so grateful that Mrs. Carpenter was the one teaching us about these topics because she had a heart big enough for it. She always made sure we were okay before leaving the class and her class discussions were some of the most meaningful, powerful discussions I've ever had in my high school career because they were so relatable to just simply being humane. I will always remember, in my heart, everything Mrs. Carpenter taught me.
Mrs. Seymour was a huge factor in contributing to my academic success. She was my AP Biology teacher. On the contrary to my electives, this was a very challenging course. It required an eye (and memory!) for detail, a skill I had never been very strong in. As a result, I was a bit intimidated going in to the class. But I quickly discovered that I could not have had a better teacher than Mrs. Seymour. She has the ability to take such unbelievably complex, detailed material and teach it to her students in a way this is easy to learn and understand. I was blown away! Don't get me wrong, the course definitely required a lot of time from the students, but I cannot imagine learning that material from any other teacher than Mrs. Seymour. She knew how to challenge our minds with hard-to-think-about concepts, and I loved that. Most importantly, I learned studying and writing skills that I know are going to benefit my academic success in my next six years of schooling. My major requires a lot of reading, writing, and attention to detail. Mrs. Seymour gave me the tools I needed to make those skills stronger areas for me as a student. She taught me how to read a textbook effectively, make hard-to-understand concepts manageable, retain detailed information, and write essays very quickly using what I know. Those are incredible skills that I am grateful Mrs. Seymour could teach me. They will definitely bring me far on my future path in Communicative Disorders.
Just as important as my academics were to shaping who I am, so were sports. Fortunately, I had the privilege of experiencing two very unique sports: track and gymnastics. These two sports were unique because they were both individual and team sports. I competed to win as an individual, but I was also competing to contribute to my team's success against the other teams, as well. It is a fascinating concept and a wonderful learning experience. I was able to value my hard work and set individual goals for myself, but also look past those and set common goals as a team. This is a tricky but important skill that I wish every adolescent could experience. Consuming a large part of my week for almost my entire life, both my track team and gymnastics team felt like family to me and my coaches felt like parents. Although being a two-sport athlete was very time consuming, it forced me to learn time management. This is a skill that does not come naturally to me, so having sports to ingrain it into me was beneficial to my academic success.
Last but not least, my senior year internship probably had the greatest impact on my future. I was fortunate enough to be able to intern with my high school's Speech Pathologist, Ms. Vesely. I saw the same group of six special needs students every other day for their speech therapy class. Their ages, disabilities, and severity of their disabilities ranged. I formed bonds with these six students that I will carry with me forever. I always left with a huge smile on my face and a new appreciating for the little things in life. In addition to this, I left each class with more knowledge about the field of speech therapy than I came with. Ms. Vesely was my mentor. She taught me concepts, tools, tricks, and skills that I know I will carry with me and use one day when I become a Speech Pathologist. I feel very lucky to have had this opportunity as a high school student. This internship equipped me with knowledge and experience that has already given me a head start in my college education. It reassured me that children's speech therapy was what I want to pursue with my life. As a result, here I am at URI studying Communicative Disorders and I could not be more excited about my future.
Looking back on my high school career, I would not change a thing. I feel privileged to have experienced the quality of education and faculty that I did. I not only grew academically, but I also grew as a person. The personal, academic, and extracurricular influences will forever stay with me. As a result, I feel more than prepared to start my next journey, and I owe it to my positive high school experience.
9/27/13
EDC 102H -- Dr. Fogleman
High School Influence
I have never grown so much as a person than I did during my high school career. It is hard for me to define just a few influential teachers or extracurricular activities because I believe that they all helped shape me into the student and citizen that I am today. With that being said, there were definitely some outstanding individuals and opportunities that had the greatest impact on me. I owe my academic successes and my future path to Mrs. Carpenter, Mrs. Seymour, Ms. Vesely, and my track and gymnastics teams.
Mrs. Carpenter was not my most challenging teacher. In fact, her electives might have been the easiest courses I took in high school. However, she was an extremely influential adult in my life. Mrs. Carpenter was like a second mom to me, as she was to many other students, as well. Always with wide, welcoming, open arms, she was my shoulder to cry on (literally!). The life advice and lessons Mrs. Carpenter taught me will forever stay with me in my heart. She valued teaching, but she also very much valued guiding her students to be the best people and citizens they could be. This was important to her, and I am grateful for that. On top of her history classes, she taught two electives: Human Oppression and Global Relations. I took these classes my senior year and they were very heavy material, even for an 18 year old, to digest. I would often leave class feeling depressed after watching a documentary on genocide or reading a first hand account of the atrocities these innocent cultures faced. But they were very important topics. They were eye openers, heart tuggers, and tear jerkers. And I am so grateful that Mrs. Carpenter was the one teaching us about these topics because she had a heart big enough for it. She always made sure we were okay before leaving the class and her class discussions were some of the most meaningful, powerful discussions I've ever had in my high school career because they were so relatable to just simply being humane. I will always remember, in my heart, everything Mrs. Carpenter taught me.
Mrs. Seymour was a huge factor in contributing to my academic success. She was my AP Biology teacher. On the contrary to my electives, this was a very challenging course. It required an eye (and memory!) for detail, a skill I had never been very strong in. As a result, I was a bit intimidated going in to the class. But I quickly discovered that I could not have had a better teacher than Mrs. Seymour. She has the ability to take such unbelievably complex, detailed material and teach it to her students in a way this is easy to learn and understand. I was blown away! Don't get me wrong, the course definitely required a lot of time from the students, but I cannot imagine learning that material from any other teacher than Mrs. Seymour. She knew how to challenge our minds with hard-to-think-about concepts, and I loved that. Most importantly, I learned studying and writing skills that I know are going to benefit my academic success in my next six years of schooling. My major requires a lot of reading, writing, and attention to detail. Mrs. Seymour gave me the tools I needed to make those skills stronger areas for me as a student. She taught me how to read a textbook effectively, make hard-to-understand concepts manageable, retain detailed information, and write essays very quickly using what I know. Those are incredible skills that I am grateful Mrs. Seymour could teach me. They will definitely bring me far on my future path in Communicative Disorders.
Just as important as my academics were to shaping who I am, so were sports. Fortunately, I had the privilege of experiencing two very unique sports: track and gymnastics. These two sports were unique because they were both individual and team sports. I competed to win as an individual, but I was also competing to contribute to my team's success against the other teams, as well. It is a fascinating concept and a wonderful learning experience. I was able to value my hard work and set individual goals for myself, but also look past those and set common goals as a team. This is a tricky but important skill that I wish every adolescent could experience. Consuming a large part of my week for almost my entire life, both my track team and gymnastics team felt like family to me and my coaches felt like parents. Although being a two-sport athlete was very time consuming, it forced me to learn time management. This is a skill that does not come naturally to me, so having sports to ingrain it into me was beneficial to my academic success.
Last but not least, my senior year internship probably had the greatest impact on my future. I was fortunate enough to be able to intern with my high school's Speech Pathologist, Ms. Vesely. I saw the same group of six special needs students every other day for their speech therapy class. Their ages, disabilities, and severity of their disabilities ranged. I formed bonds with these six students that I will carry with me forever. I always left with a huge smile on my face and a new appreciating for the little things in life. In addition to this, I left each class with more knowledge about the field of speech therapy than I came with. Ms. Vesely was my mentor. She taught me concepts, tools, tricks, and skills that I know I will carry with me and use one day when I become a Speech Pathologist. I feel very lucky to have had this opportunity as a high school student. This internship equipped me with knowledge and experience that has already given me a head start in my college education. It reassured me that children's speech therapy was what I want to pursue with my life. As a result, here I am at URI studying Communicative Disorders and I could not be more excited about my future.
Looking back on my high school career, I would not change a thing. I feel privileged to have experienced the quality of education and faculty that I did. I not only grew academically, but I also grew as a person. The personal, academic, and extracurricular influences will forever stay with me. As a result, I feel more than prepared to start my next journey, and I owe it to my positive high school experience.